Current Affairs Daily Updates: 31 May 2014

1) Modi
govt abolished all EGoMs, GoMs for expeditious decisions, greater
accountability: Dismantling a legacy of UPA rule, the newly formed Narendra
Modi-led NDA government on Saturday abolished all EGoMs (Empowered Group of
Ministers) and GoMs (Group of Ministers) for expeditious decisions and greater
accountability.

An official statement from the Prime
Minister's Office said, "This decision would expedite the process of
decision making and usher in greater accountability in the system." It
said wherever the ministries face difficulties, the Cabinet Secretariat and the
Prime Minister's Office will facilitate the decision-making process. There were
nine empowered groups of ministers (EGOMs) and 21 groups of ministers (GOMs) in
operation. They were to take decisions on various matters -- and several of
them on matters seen as tricky -- before coming up before the cabinet for
consideration. In a way, this decision also poses greater accountability on PM
Modi himself as he will now have to adjudicate matters where there are
differences among cabinet colleagues, rather than let a panel of colleagues
deliberate on them first.

2) K
Chandrasekhar Rao to be sworn in as Chief Minister of Telangana on June 2:
It is now official. TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao will sworn in as Chief
Minister along with his team at Raj Bhavan on June 2 at 8.15 am. Mr Rao met
Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan at Raj Bhavan. TRS, which won 2014 Assembly polls by
bagging 63 seats, have staked claim to form the government and submitted a
resolution electing Mr Rao as TRS Legislature party leader to the Governor.

3) World
observed No Tobacco Day: World No Tobacco Day was observed every year on
May 31 to raise awareness about the health risks associated with tobacco use
and advocating for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption. This year,
WHO and partners call on countries to raise taxes on tobacco. The main goal of
this day is to contribute to protect present and future generations not only
from the devastating health consequences due to tobacco, but also from the
social, environmental and economic scourges of tobacco use and exposure to
tobacco smoke. The member states of the World Health Organization (WHO) created
World No Tobacco Day in 1987.

4) Prakash
Javadekar Assumed Charge of Minister of State in the Ministry of Parliamentary
Affairs: Shri Prakash Javadekar, Minister of State (Independent Charge) of
the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting & Ministry of Environment
& Forests and Climate change also took charge as Minister of State in the
Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs in the Parliament House in New Delhi.

5) Lok
Sabha TV CEO Rajiv Mishra's services terminated: Lok Sabha TV Chief
Executive Rajiv Mishra has lost his job, with outgoing Speaker Meira Kumar
terminating his services with effect from on Saturday. Mishra, who joined as
the CEO of the LSTV on December 16, 2011, was given an extension with effect
from December 15, 2013, until further orders. No reason has been cited in the
order. Since the Speaker's tenure is itself coming to an end on June 4, the
Speaker had "limited" the contract of Mishra till May 31, 2014.

6) French
airforce contingent arrived in India for 'Garuda-5': Four French Rafale
fighter aircraft and a contingent of about 70 French airforce personnel on
Saturday landed at Jodhpur airbase to participate in the 10-day long joint air
exercise "Garuda-5". The air exercise, expected to be attended by
Defence Minister Arun Jaitley, will kick start at the Jodhpur airbase on June
2.

7) Kamal
Nath appointed Protem Speaker of Lok Sabha: Former Parliamentary Affairs
Minister and senior Congress leader Kamal Nath has been appointed as the Protem
Speaker in the new Lok Sabha. A notification issued by the Lok Sabha
Secretariat said President Pranab Mukherjee has appointed him to perform the
duties of the Speaker. The Narendra Modi government had recently conveyed its
recommendation to Mukherjee to appoint Nath, who is the senior most member of
the Lower House, as Protem Speaker. The Protem Speaker performs the duties of
the office of the Speaker from the commencement of the sitting of the Lok Sabha
till the election of the Speaker.

8) Vice
Admiral Lanba appointed new Naval Vice Chief: Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba,
commandant of National Defence College and in line to be the next Navy chief,
has been appointed as Vice Chief of Naval Staff as part of a major rejig at the
top level in the maritime force. This is the first major announcement of
appointments in the NDA regime but the recommendations for these postings had
been made by former Defence Minister A K Antony.

9) RK
Pattanaik takes over as Indian Navy's deputy chief: Vice Admiral RK
Pattanaik Saturday took over as the deputy chief of the Indian Navy from Vice
Admiral PK Chatterjee who has been appointed as commander-in-chief of the
Andaman and Nicobar Command, an official release said.

10) Belgium
beat India 3-2 in hockey World Cup opener:
India's shaky defence conceded a goal 15 seconds from the hooter to go
down 2-3 against Belgium in their opening game of hockey World Cup at the
Kyocera Stadium, Netherlands on Saturday.